What Came from the Stars Paperback – September 30, 2014

At 64, I'm an old man and probably shouldn't be reading the genre erroneously called "young adult fiction." But appellations notwithstanding, this genre has the most imaginative and engaging stories currently being published. I read YA fiction so I can recommend books to the 5th - 8th graders I tutor at our elementary school.Gary Schmidt is a prime example of the depth this genre. I have read every one of his books and have yet to be disappointed. "What Came from the Stars" is a prime example.On the surface, this novel is Schmidt's foray into science fiction. In reality, it is an examination of loss, forgiveness, and redemption. No spoiler alert here. I am not going to give away the plot. But these plot elements are so deftly woven into the story that they are almost invisible. But by the end of the book, the reader cannot help but feel and understand them. A heck of a lesson for young people.Schmidt has many valuable qualities as a writer. He has impeccable command of voice. In his two best known books - "Wednesday Wars" and "Okay for Now" - the protagonists' voices are true to their ages and yet are completely different. Written in the first person, the protagonists of both books do not relate their stories to the readers. They tell it as if seated across the dinner table. They are there with you. "What Came from the Stars" is written in the third person, but the reader still gets a vivid sense of Tommy Pepper, the protagonist. This book could not have been written in first person, and Schmidt knew that. In third person, we can ache for Tommy's losses. If written in first person, he could have come across as a complainer or whiner.Schmidt's most important quality as a writer is a profound respect for his readers. He never simplifies his stories because he's writing for a younger readership. He knows they are capable of rising to the level of his storytelling. I have two examples of this. "What Came from the Stars" begins with an almost incomprehensible narration of a battle on a distant world. Few authors of any genre would have dared their readers to continue I this way. But Schmidt knows his readers well and kept the narration and descriptions lively, engaging, and dangerous enough to pull the reader along.My other example of Schmidt's respect for his readers is best given by a then fifth grader in the school where I volunteer. The students were assigned to write an author of one of the books they'd read during the year. This boy chose Schmidt and told him "I never used to like to read. But you turned me into a reader." This boy now reads voraciously and discusses his reading with me at great length - a testament to Schmidt's ability to engage his young readers.Read "What Came from the Stars." Whether you are 11, 31, or in your sixties, it will be a journey well worth taking.(By the way, Schmidt wrote back to my young friend. In long hand!)

Audiobook.Books with made up words are hard for me to follow when I listen to them, but this was still a decent story.Content: clean. The only profanity was made up.

My grandson will be 6 years old in 12/12 and I ordered this book because he has so enjoyed the "Star Wars" movies and is having the "Harry Potter" series read to him at home. While I think he could have been a little older, he is not afraid to ask questions and was mesmerized by the story, as was I at age 68. Neither of us wanted to stop reading.The story is wonderful. There is an uprising on a distant planet and the culture of the defeated tribe is stored on a chain and sent out into the universe. It lands on earth where it is found by Tommy Pepper, a sixth-grader who lives with his father and first-grade sister, Patty, in Plymouth, MA. The family is struggling over the recent death of the children's mother. The chain gives Tommy special power, but the victors, led by the evil Lord Mondus, frin the other planet, have determined where the chain containing The Art of the Valorim has gone and send evil representatives of the Lord Mondus to earth to get the chain. And so the strange happenings in Plymouth and the struggle between good and evil begin.This is a "can't put down" book for all.

Fast and easy

My 6th grade daughter was given a selection of books for school summer reading and we wrongly chose this book. She is an avid reader and usually finishes books in one evening. I think this may be the first one she’s ever put down and didn’t pick back up again.Where to start? The real-world characters are snarky and unpleasant, up until the mother dies, in kind of like an “after-school special” grief story way. But the shift itself is interesting and the writing compelling. I could get behind that sort of, if that was what this story was about. One page after the first chapter, you realize it’s clearly not.Honestly, our family likes science and we like fiction. We like Science Fiction. What we don’t like are 20+ italicized pages of aliens speaking in “yea, verily” Shakespearean dross nonsense that bores the reader to tears. I don’t care about O’Mondims and their struggles. I don’t care about the Valorim. I don’t care about the Etherim. I’m actually not really clear on who is what. The only interesting parts of this story involve the massive struggles the earthbound family goes through. And unfortunately, they take a back seat to stupid fairly early on.The book is a chore. Skip it.